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December Home Sales Rise

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By SHANNON BEHNKEN

sbehnken@tampatrib.com

Published: January 27, 2009

TAMPA - Home sales in the Bay area rose more in December than any month since the downturn began.

It's a sign that sales prices, which continue to plummet, are enticing buyers.

The number of existing homes sold in December in the metro area of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater jumped 16 percent compared with December 2007. Sales increased to 1,857, up from 1,597, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

Sales were up 3 percent in November compared with November 2007.

The median sales price, however, fell 27 percent to $145,700. It was $199,800 in December 2007.

Statewide, sales increased 27 percent and prices decreased the same amount.

In Orlando, the Florida market most like Tampa's, sales rose 34 percent to 1,535. Prices fell 26 percent to $167,800.

The sales increase is good news, but falling prices could hinder the recovery of the overall economy, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. He has called on lawmakers to include tax credits for homebuyers in the economic recovery package being considered by Congress.

"The economy just simply cannot recover as long as home prices continue to decline," he said.

Nationally, December sales rose an unexpected 6.5 percent compared with November but were down 3.5 percent from December 2007, according to the Realtor's group.

The nationwide median sales price was $175,400, down 15.5 percent from $207,000 for December 2007. That was the lowest price since May 2003 and the biggest year-to-year drop in records going back to 1968.

For all of 2008, there were 4.9 million existing home sales, down more than 13 percent from a year earlier and the lowest total since 1997.

One encouraging sign: The number of unsold homes in the nation fell nearly 12 percent in December to 3.7 million. At the current sales pace, it would take 9.3 months to sell all the properties, down from 11.2 months in November.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.

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